Found hope
by CourtneyDixon
Summary: Daryl is on a search to find Sophia. Carl ends up coming along and what they find isn't expected
1. Chapter 1

**The walking dead does not belong to me it belongs to Robert kirkman and amc. No copy right infringement intended. Please read and review.**

Daryl had gone out to look for Sophia. He was half way into the woods when he heard footsteps behind him.  
He turned around to see Carl standing there.

"What ya doin' here?" He asked him.  
"Looking for Sophia. Please don't make me go back. I want to find her."  
"I know you do, but it's not safe for you to be here."  
"I have a gun and a knife. I know how to take out walkers."  
"Fair enough, guess it's getting to dark to take you back any way."  
"Where will we stay?" Carl asked him nervously.  
Daryl looked around to find somewhere safe to sleep.  
"There's a house over there. It's clear of walkers. We could stay there."  
"Alright."

Daryl and Carl went into the house. "I'm just gonna check the house to see if Sophia is here, okay?"  
"Yeah, be careful."

Daryl went through the house looking in all the rooms and cupboards. He finally got to the last room.  
"Sophia?" Daryl asked hoping to find her.  
"I'm here who is it?" Sophia asked nervously.  
"It's me Daryl, Carl is downstairs."  
Sophia ran out of the room to meet Daryl. Holding the hands two little girls.  
"Daddy?!" They both said in unison.  
"Ellie? Gabby? Is that you?" Hugging his daughters tightly.

The four went downstairs to Carl.  
"Carl come in here, there's someone I want you to see" Daryl shouted.  
Carl entered the room eager to see who it was.  
"What is it Daryl?"  
"Urm, hi Carl." Sophia interrupted.  
"Sophia!" He exclaimed running too hug her,"I missed you so much."  
"I missed you too." She replied embraced in a hug.  
"Who are they?" Carl asked point to the twins.  
"That's Ellie," pointing to the girl with her hair in a bun,"and that's Gabby." She said while she pointed to the girl with her hair down in light curls.  
"Their my daughters, their 5 and twins as you can probably tell" Daryl told him.

After Daryl gave them all some food and water they went to sleep.  
In the morning the group set off back to the farm.  
"Carol's gonna be so excited to see you, Sophia." Carl said quietly aware not to draw any unwanted attention towards them.  
"She sure is, she's been worrying about ya" Daryl said  
"Well thank you for finding me ."  
"Daryl."  
"What?" She asked him confused.  
"Call me Daryl there's no need for the mister. I'm just Daryl."  
"Okay Daryl."

Meanwhile back on the farm

Rick and Glenn were doing a perimeter check to make sure there weren't any walkers.  
"Rick" Glenn said.  
"What is it Glenn?"  
Glenn pointed to where Daryl was.  
"Isn't that Daryl?"  
"Yeah and he has people with him"  
They both went over to Daryl to see who he was with.  
"Daryl who's with you?" Rick asked while walking towards him.  
"Sophia," He shouted back,"Ellie and Gabby, their my daughters, and Carl." He said calmly.  
"We better get carol."

Glenn ran over to Carol  
"Carol, Daryl's back and he's got Sophia with him." He said to her.  
Carol then saw Sophia running towards her.  
"Sophia baby" she said crying and hugging her.  
"Momma!" Sophia replied.

Later on

The group were sat around the camp fire.  
"Daryl, who are those girls you brought back?" T-Dog asked wanting to break the awkward silence.  
"Oh that's Ellie and Gabby" he said.  
"Do you know them?" Lori asked the question this time.  
"Yeah, their my daughters." He said pleased that he manage to find them and Sophia in the same day, then bring them back safely.  
"I never thought you'd be the fatherly type." Shane said.

The group stared to disperse to their tents until Daryl, Ellie, Gabby and Carol were the only one's left.  
"Daryl, I can't thank you enough for saving Sophia." She said giving him a kiss on his cheek.  
"It's nothing if it's was Ellie and Gabby or even Carl I would of done the same thing."  
"Thank you" she said before leaving to go to sleep.  
"Come on you two time for bed"

They got to the tent and settled in.  
"Goodnight daddy, love you." Ellie and Gabby said one after the other.  
"Goodnight, love ya too." He said before they both went to sleep.

He finally had his little girls back.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Daryl had woke up to find Ellie and Gabby playing hop scotch outside with Sophia.

"Morning daddy" they both called to him, smiling and waving for him to join in.

"Morning princess" he called to Ellie.

"Morning pumpkin" he called to Gabby before he hopped onto their poorly drawn hop scotch board.

5 minutes had passed and Daryl was actually enjoying himself. He didn't care that he was playing kids games he had his girls back and that was all that mattered.

"Hey Daryl, you having fun there?" Glenn mocked walking over to him.

'What does that chink want now' he thought.

"Shut up" he paused for a moment before continuing,

"What you want anyway chinaman?" He asked Glenn while he hopped on the concrete.

"Breakfasts ready, you better hurry up before all the bacons gone." He replied smiling at the thought of having meat other than squirrel or venison.

"Bacon?" Daryl asked unsure if he heard him correctly, "did you just say we're having bacon?"

"Yeah, Hershel decided to kill one of the pigs said it was their time to pass anyway" Glenn said before walking back to camp taking Sophia with him.

"Daddy, when's breakfast ready." Ellie asked him.

"Right now princess. You girls want something to eat?"

"Yes please" Gabby said back to him before they walked back to camp to meet the others.

The group were all sat in a circle around the Rv.

"Daryl," Dale had begun to say "What happened to Ellie and Gabby's mother" He asked him curiously.

"To be honest old man, I don't know their mother was with them and they must of been split up or something." He said quietly gulping when he realised that his wife was probably dead.

"Daddy," Ellie said with tears in her eyes, "Mamas dead" she said quietly.

"What happened to her Ellie?" He asked her.

"The biters got her..." She sniffled before going on "She didn't want to become one of them...So when she asked me to put an arrow though her head before she turned, I did it"

"Oh baby," Carol said "are you okay?"

"Yes Miss" Ellie said not knowing what to call her

"I just did what my mama wanted. What can I call you, I don't remember learning your name miss" she said.

"Carol, darling, you can call me Carol."

"Okay, I will do it now... No I like these people their nice... No their no like them... alright if I have to" Gabby said to herself quietly before attacking Shane.

Gabby had punched, kicked and scratched Shane before Daryl was able to pull her away.

"Pumpkin repeat after me, 'this is my bubble," drawing an imaginary bubble around her," No-one can hurt me in my bubble, I am safe in my bubble." He told her to say while she drawing herself a bubble.

"This is my bubble,"she repeated her daddy's words, " no-one can hurt me in my bubble, I am safe in my bubble" she said before calming down.

"Why did you hit Shane Gabby?"

"Atlanta, he was that police man that hurt mama. It's Mr Shane Walsh isn't it?" Daryl gulped

"Now I want you to go to Shane and say sorry, alright?" He said to her sternly.

Daryl walked her back over to Shane. "Mister Shane?" She said "sorry for hurting you"

"It's okay darlin' you were scared don't worry about it" Shane replied smiling at her before she walked back to play with The other kids.

"Is she okay, Daryl?" Lori asked him.

"She'll be fine. She has schizophrenia, that's why she lashed out." He sighed "When she was five, she went on a trip to Atlanta with her mama.

Their was drunk men their that attacked them." He gulped "she remembered Shane being one of the men she saw their. She said she remembered him raping her mama."

The group looking over at Shane.

"No way man, I would never do that. Come on you know I wouldn't" Shane said frantically.

"He would," Lori said " at the CDC, he tried to rape me" she sighed.

"Is that how he got those scratches?" Dale asked

"Yes" she said quietly.

"He can't stay here anymore, he might hurt someone. We can't trust him to do anything now."

"No man, I wouldn't do that that" Shane said panicking.

"Yeah, you said you wouldn't let Otis die, bit you shot him in the leg and left him for dead didn't you?"...


	3. Chapter 3

**_Shane's pov:_**

He glared over at Daryl 'How dare you he say that.' He thought. How did Daryl know what had happened.  
"No man, we got over run remember, walkers got him." He declared loudly. He could tell their was panic in his voice. The group were definitely suspicious now.  
"So Rick, who was in a coma for a month, managed to save a group of people in Atlanta from thousands of walkers and find his family in the same day and you couldn't keep Otis alive?" Daryl asked him 'he did not just say that I'll kill him' he thought but he didn't say it out loud "Bullshit there was nothing I could do." He screamed in Daryl's face.  
"Rick did that after one day of waking up from his coma. You're always saying to Lori about how you're better than Rick, but your not better than him are you?" Daryl spat back at Shane's face then carried on with his rant.  
"Ha, you don't do shit for anyone. You don't care about anyone but yourself Shane, I saw what you did to Carl when Rick came back. He adores you but you just pushed him away like he was a piece of shit!" Daryl shouted, Shane saw the anger in his face and crossed his arms and took it like a man.  
"Carl doesn't deserve that Shane. What happened between you and Lori doesn't involve him. He needed you to be there for him but you pushed him away."Daryl stopped to catch his breath and the group gasped, surprised that Daryl had such a good argument

"You don't care about anyone I only saw you looking for Sophia once. You said to us 'Sophia's dead' or 'She won't survive on her on' well she did and she saved Ellie and Gabby aswell. You said there was no hope for Sophia. Well guess what Shane, you was wrong!" Shane sighed he knew Daryl was right what happened with him and Lori wasn't Carl's fault. Carl needed him and he pushed him away.  
"Okay!" Shane screamed "I did leave Otis to die. I didn't search for Sophia because it means that we have on more mouth to feed." Rick stepped forward to address Shane putting his hand on Shane's shoulder apologetically "Shane," Rick said to him sternly "I want you to leave this group right now. Gather all you're things and just leave. Don't dare think about coming back or I will not hesitate to kill you." Rick said calmly to his so called 'best friend'.  
"Rick, you wouldn't do that, I'm your best friend man." He said worrying about what he would do now he didn't have the group to feed him or protect him.  
" I will do what ever is needed to keep these people safe. To keep my wife safe, to keep Carl safe. What is needed to keep this group safe. And if that means killing you then I will do it. I will cut you throat open and let you die before killing you again when you come back as a walker and shoot you in the head of I have to!" Rick threatened 'Wait,' Shane thought 'don't I have to get bit or scratched to turn'  
"What?" Shane asked " I can't come back if I'm not bit" he said smirking.  
"Oh, we're all infected, you don't need to get bit to turn. At the CDC, Jenner told me when I escaped. All you have to do is die to become one of the. Didn't you get the memo?" Rick asked him sarcastically.

And with that Shane stormed off. He gathered his belongings together and left the group forever. Never to come back to them. On his own on the road with nothing to keep him safe from walkers. No way to have food and water when he needed it.  
He was leaving for good.  
"Bye," he shouted while walking towards his vehicle " maybe I'll see you all when I'm dead." He said hopefully.  
He left the farm and went on to continue his journey on the road.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Sorry about not updating for a couple days. I was trying write a chapter a day but I couldn't think of many thing to write about. Anyway here is chapter 4. I thought it would be a good idea to write it through a child's perspective. **_

Ellie's pov:

Ellie woke up as soon as the sun came up. She was up before everyone else. And she decided to wonder around by the Rv whilst she hummed some melodies her mama taught her. "The others will be awake soon" she thought to herself. Ellie had started to get bored so she retreated back to the tent to see if her daddy or Gabby had woke up yet. They were still asleep. A few moments went by when Ellie's stomach growled at her. "I sure hope we have breakfast soon.' She murmured to her self. That's when she smelt it. The sweet smell of bacon and eggs in the summer air.

Ellie ventured towards the Rv to find Dale sitting on the roof. "Good morning, Dale." She called to him waving her hands excitedly at the older male. Dale waved back to her smiling sweetly "Good morning, Ellie" he replied " how long have you been awake?" He had asked her.

"Since the sun came up, so I'd say about two hours judging from the suns position in the sky it's about 7:00 right now." She told him. It was said more in a questioning form. Dale checked his watch that was still working. Maybe it was he winded it everyday at the exact same time. Dales watch was really accurate as well so the group normally went to him in the morning and evenings to see what the time was. "My watch says its exactly 7:01am," Dale answered a few seconds later. "Did you learn to tell time like that in school, Ellie? It would probably be a good skill for the rest of the group to have." Dale remarked amazed at the child's ability.

"Actually Dale, Me and Gabby are homeschooled. Our daddy taught us everything from maths to basic survival skills. I know how to use a bow and arrow, how to kill prey humanely and how to skin and cook the meat properly." She said proudly to Dale.

The whole group probably thought that Daryl was just a stupid redneck but in fact he seemed to be quite opposite that. Her daddy got an A* in all his subjects and we all know how good he is at hunting and tracking.

"You're fathers really smart isn't he, Ellie? You tell him that I said he is a valuable member of this group. I don't know what we would do without him." Dale said. Ellie noticed how he was also wise with his words but honest too.

"Yes Dale. I'm going to talk to Rick. See you later!" She called to him before he replied.

"See you, Ellie. Don't do anything stupid" he shouted back at her. God forbid if another child went missing.

Ellie skipped of to try and locate were Rick was. Whilst walking around she thought about what Dale had said. She knew that her daddy was a valuable member of the group. How would they cope if he died? They couldn't survive on canned goods forever. The farm could go bust any time soon. They needed to reinforce the fence. Even Ellie knew that.

Eventually Ellie found Rick outside someone's tent with Glenn. Ellie guessed it was Glenn's tent. As she walked towards them she heard them call to her "Good morning Ellie?" She waved to them shouting the same back to each of them. "Morning Rick, morning Glenn" she said to them before ushering Rick over to talk to him in private.

"You alright Ellie?" Rick asked her worriedly.

"Yes, I've thinking about how safe the farm is..." She said quietly. She started to regret bringing this topic up but someone had to do something about it even if it meant a 5 year old had to do it. "The fence is not stable enough, a horde of walkers could easily knock it down." She stated to him.

"Good point Ellie any ideas how?" Rick questioned her. Ellie had quite a few ideas that could work. She knew that Hershel had some spare generators that they could borrow.

"We could make an electric fence around the farm, use the spare generators and a bit of barbed wire. Or dig ditches and put spears in them. It would keep unwanted walkers away, and the living we don't want here. Like Shane..." She spat the last bit out before walking off to let Rick think about what she had said.

Would Rick take or ideas on and make the farm more secure or will he just forget what the child said?


	5. Chapter 5

Later on that day, around about noon Daryl sat on a rock secluded from the rest of the group. He sat there make new bolts for his crossbow and cleaning the rest that he had. Whilst whittling he hummed a tune that he heard on the radio the day Sophia went missing.

Daryl then started to sing during the chorus.  
"What hurts the most,  
Was being so close.  
Having so much to say,  
And watching you walk away.  
Never knowing what could of been,  
And not seeing that loving you.  
That's what I was trying to do"  
He had sang. Daryl's voice had a slight drag to it, which made his singing great. Especially with how masculine it was.  
Daryl had gotten himself so into the song that he didn't see Rick, Glenn and Dale standing in front of him. They were smirking like they were about to laugh at him, but they wouldn't do that. Would they?  
"Dammit how long have you to been here?" He asked them with a mix of anger and embarrassment in his voice.  
"Long enough to enough to hear your singing." Rick replied a moment later. Rick didn't want to interrupt Daryl when he was so peaceful so. He let him sing until he was finished.  
"God dammit!" Daryl whispered loudly, he was going red in the face "I knew I shouldn't of started singing, but I did anyway. Stupid Daryl!" He murmured to him self turned away so Dale and Rick Didn't hear what he was saying. They still heard him. "No Daryl," Dale had started to lecture him. "You are not stupid. You are an amazing singer, why haven't you sang before?" Dale questioned him while he glanced curiously at the rough redneck. "Yeah man you're awesome." Glenn told him.  
"Brings back to many memories of people I've lost," Daryl started wiping away a tear before they noticed he was crying. He had a reputation to keep for goodness sake and crying would just make him a pansy. "Ma, Clementine, Merle, my wife ...and pa" he said sadly. Daryl had lost a lot of family. But now he had his daughters back, and maybe he would find Merle.  
"Who's Clementine?" Dale asked him. Good point who was she and why hadn't they heard about her before? "My little sister, my parents went away and left her with a babysitter." Daryl told him what happened.  
"Is she alive?" Glenn asked him.  
"Don't know, not seen her since the outbreak. Me and Merle went back to the house to get her but she was gone. She left a note saying she went to Macon with a man called Lee Everett," Daryl had gone to continue but was interrupted by Glenn.  
"Wait does this Clementine have black curly hair, a hat with the letter D on it and is about 9 years old?" Glenn asked the redneck and then he continued. " her last name is Hutchison." He stated to Daryl.  
"Yes that's her." Daryl pulled a picture of Clementine and shown Glenn. Glenn remembered her from the pharmacy.  
"She was alive 12 months ago. I met her in Macon. I have one of her walkie talkies in my bag so you can try to see if she's alive." Glenn passed him the walkie talkie then walked off.  
"Hey Glenn!" Daryl shouted to him "thanks" he told him.  
"No problem man."

"Now why you guys here anyway?" Daryl asked Rick and Dale. It was about time they told him why they were invading his privacy. Rick answered him first saying why he was there. "Ellie was talking to me this morning, she said that we should reinforce the fence. I just wanted to know if you think this is a good idea. She had some very valid points and she even gave some excellent ideas." Rick stated. He had decided to make Daryl his 'go to guy' as soon as Shane had left them. Although Daryl was very unaware of this until now.  
"I'd say go for it. Better to have some extra precautions to protect the group than lose half the group to walkers and regret it later." Daryl had agreed with Ellie, he was her father after all but she was right. They didn't have enough protection.  
"Thanks Daryl, just wanted to have your input seeing as you know the most about surviving." Rick had thanked him And left to find Lori and Carl.

"Daryl, I was wondering if you could have Ellie teach the group some survival skills." Dale said.  
"Why?" Daryl replied simply. Before letting the older man continue.  
"Because she told me that you taught her everything about surviving and she knows how to hunt. I asked Rick and he thinks it would be good especially of something happens to you" The older man told Daryl his ideas and Daryl agreed with him.  
"Alright, I'll ask Ellie if she wants to do it and if she does we'll start as soon as possible but if not then I'll do it" Daryl told Dale.  
"Thank you Daryl" Dale said to him thankfully.  
"You're welcome" Daryl replied simply before the older man walked off leaving Daryl to clean his bolts.

_**AN: Well done to everyone who noticed the walking dead game coming into the story**_


	6. Chapter 6

Clementines pov:

Clementine was sat there on a truck bonnet thinking about where she should go now that Lee was dead. That's when her walkie talkie cackled. She panicked. What if it was someone like that man back in the marsh house. "Clementine Hutchison? Is that you?" The voice said. She scrambled to answer back. "Yes who is this?" She said back.

"It's Daryl, Clem. Daryl Dixon. You remember who I am don't you?" She heard Daryl say.

"Yes you're my brother aren't you?"

She couldn't put faith in a device ever since that man tricked her and locked her away.

"Yeah I am. Are you with anyone?"

Daryl asked her. He wanted to make sure she was safe, as an older brother and a father he took on responsibility to keep those he cared about safe.

"Not anymore. Urm Daryl? How did you connect to my walkie talkie?" She asked him quietly. She didn't want to draw any walkers to her.

"You remember Glenn right?" He said hoping she would remember him.

"The Korean guy from the pharmacy in Macon? Wears a hat and is good at getting supplies" She replied. She knew who Daryl was talking about.

"Yeah well he's with my group now it's safe here. Do you want to come?"

A moment paused while Clementine thought about what to say next.

"Where are you staying?" Clementine asked her older brother cautiously.

"A farm owned by a man named Hershel." He said with joy in his voice.

"Wait Hershel Greene? Lives with Maggie, Beth, Otis, Patricia?"

"Yeah do you know him?"

"I stayed there with Lee and we got kicked of when his step son Shaun died. He told us to never to come back to the farm ever again." She said.

What would happen if she just shown up and caused them to get kicked off. They would definitely be mad at her. The radio cackled again.

"Clem were are you now?" Daryl asked.

"Interstate 85, next to a truck with supplies on it. It says on the window 'Sophia stay here we will come everyday'" she told him was she was. Was it the right thing to do or would it get her in more trouble?

"Stay there I'll be there in 5 minutes" Daryl told her before the connection was lost.

Daryl's pov:

Daryl left the farm to get his little sister on Merle's motorcycle. Five minutes later he arrived at the truck to see Clementine sitting on the hood.

"Clementine hop on" he said to her as he stop the bike to let her on.

"Daryl" she said quietly as she got on and they drove back to the farm.

"Where's ma and pa?" Daryl asked her.

"In Savannah with a bullet in their heads." She told him " I found them roaming round as walkers so I shot them when I left."

"Oh Clem, I'm sorry." Was Daryl's natural reaction. That's what everyone says when someone's loved ones had died.

"It's okay" she said quietly as they arrived back at the farm.

Daryl took Clementine straight to Hershel to talk him into letting her stay.

"Hershel." Daryl said to the farmer when he was behind him.

"What's wrong Dar - oh." Hershel said when he saw the girl standing there next to Daryl.

"Yeah 'oh', do you know who this is Hershel?" Daryl asked Hershel hoping he would be honest with him.

"Clementine, she stayed here a while back with a coloured guy named Lee" Hershel started to say "Why?"

"Because Clementine is my little sister and I want to know why you kick her out." Daryl was speaking loudly to Hershel now.

"Shaun's death, I was angry and I needed time to mourn. I -"

"I understand Hershel. What I'm asking is if you let Clementine stay here again or I'm leaving and so are my girls." Daryl interrupted Hershel making sure he didn't anger the farmer. He didn't want to get everyone kicked off the farm.

They all stopped for a brief second before they continued with their discussion.

"Of course she can stay" Hershel said before heading for the front porch.

"Thank you" Daryl simply replied.

Daryl took clementines hand and lead her to meet the rest of the group. Somehow they found the whole group together near a fire next to Dale's Rv.

Daryl coughed loudly to get their attention and they all turned around.

"Who's that?" Lori asked Daryl.

He had gone to answer his question but was interrupted by Glenn and Hershel. "That's Clementine" they both said simultaneously. Clementine explained how Glenn and Hershel knew her. "I stayed at this farm awhile ago with a guy named Lee Everett, but we ended up leaving a day later." She had explained how she met Hershel first and went on to explain how she had met Glenn. But she was interrupted by Andrea "Wait Lee everett the convicted murderer from Macon, black and his family owns a drugstore and pharmacy there?" The blonde questioned Clementine like she was stills lawyer.

"That's the one. Oh talking of the drugstore. Me and Lee had moved on with three people. Kenny, Katjaa and Duck, also know Kenny Jr." Clementine paused as Hershel and Glenn remembered the family.

"We got to Macon when the Car had broke down. Glenn's group had saved our lives." She finished what she said and let the group whisper amongst themselves for a moment.

"How did you find her?" The farm girl with short brown hair asked Daryl. Apparently her name was Maggie but Clem's not sure.

"She's my sister. I mentioned her this morning to Glenn and he happened to know her. He gave me one of her walkie talkie's." Daryl paused to catch his breath. He carried on " found her where we left supplies for Sophia." He finished talking and the group started to introduce themselves to Clementine.

"Where's Merle?" She asked after she met everyone. There was no answer from anyone. Just silence and a lot of guilty eyes staring back at her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where's my brother?!" Clementine shouted at the group. Her eyes were tearing up.  
"I want to see Merle." She shouted with tears rolling down her cheek. Daryl being her brother and all approached her.  
He crouched down so that he was eye to eye with his younger sister.  
"Clem, we don't know where Merle is. I'm sorry but he's not here. He's gone Clementine." He told her. You could see the guilt on his face when told her. Full of lost and regret.

"Oh. Gone like Lee and our parents. Gone like every goddam walker roaming this earth. Why him?" She was crying at the thought that here oldest brother was walking around eating people.  
"No, there was an incident. In Atlanta, you know how our brother gets high a lot?" Daryl was on the verge of crying now. How could he do this to his little sister. Just tell her that he and his daughters were the only family so might have left.

"You see Clem, Merle was a danger to the group. He was in a city full of walkers, shooting his gun away. Like the world hasn't even ended." Daryl looked at his younger sister with concern. This was truly heartbreaking for him.  
He went to go on but was interrupted by Clementine  
"Well Merle was always the stupid one!" Clementine exclaimed with a giggle. Making the whole group laugh. Including Daryl.  
"Yes he was! He attacked T-dog"  
"Yeah didn't do anything it was just cause I'm black." T-Dog joined in the conversation with a sigh and there was guilt in the child's eyes.

"Well I don't think he'll like who I've been with.." She told them the truth about who she was with.  
"What do you mean?!" A woman with long brown hair asked. Clementine figured that it was Lori when she noticed a tiny bump forming.  
"Lee Everett. I saved his life and he helped me find mine and Daryl's parents. Problem is for Merle is that he was black." Clem told them the name of who she was with and partly why it was a problem.  
Andrea interrupted, after all she was a lawyer, it was her job to ask questions.  
"The Lee Everett that was on his when to jail after he '**_murdered_**' his wife and her lover?" She questioned Clementine intentionally.  
"Yes, he's from Macon. Glenn you remember the drugstore when I first met you don't ya?"  
She answered the blonde's question and went on to finish her story.  
"Yes why?" The Korean wearing a baseball cap replied.  
"It belonged to his parents, he found the keys to the pharmacy on his _dead_ brother. We've been quite a lot of places together and I've been some on my own." She finished. At least she thought she did until Daryl asked her a question.  
"What places should we avoid Clementine?" Her older brother asked standing up rather than crouching now.  
"St John's dairy, The travieller motel, Crawford. Stay away from cities. I don't want to go to Savannah, it's where I found my parents walking round trying to eat people. Fort Benning is dead there's no military there, the safe heaven is over run by walkers." She stopped to breath after telling them her list of where not to go.  
"Anymore?" Carl asked her and she nodded.  
"**Woodbury**."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it's so late I've been busy with school and stuff. ****_T_**_**hings. Don't forget to read and review. Also I would like to know who should come out of the barn. It can't be Merle or Sophia though. I was thinking it could be Jeff you know Ricks brother that was mentioned in the comics at the beginning.**_

* * *

"Woodbury?" Rick asked Clementine with his eyebrow raised. "Why was this place so significant and why?" Rick thought to him self.

"It's about 2 days away in the car, south on the highway. A man calls himself the governor runs it. It's a town with about 75 people." Clementine had started to say. "It sounds like it's exactly what we need, do they have protection?" The officer questioned.  
"A wall made of tyres and metal about 12 foot tall and men on each corner about 2 on each side but no one else knows how to use a weapon let alone kill a walker. If the town gets overrun they will die." She had answered this ex sheriffs question.  
"Maybe we should check this place out then-" Rick had tried to continue but was quickly cut of by the 9 year old  
"You don't want to go there, the place is a lie. The governor, he keeps his daughter in a cage, he brushes her hair and plays music to a walker. Penny. He keeps hundreds of heads in fish tanks claiming that 'he makes himself look at them to prepare himself for the horrors outside.'  
In the tanks are the heads of humans and walkers." Clementine paused taking a deep breath before continuing to tell the story of this psychotic man.  
"Then there's the fighting arena, the whole town yelling. They put in to people to fight saying that its staged. Worst part is that there is walkers on chains in every corner, the walkers are brought closer each second to the point that they can grab you. It's barbaric." Clementine sighed with the thought of what happened to her there. She didn't want the group to ask her so she stormed off.

Her and her brothers may of been brought up in different households but she still had their stubbornness. Daryl and Merle were brought up by their Pa after their mother left them with the abusive man, leaving the two boys to fight the man together.  
Clementine was a different story though,she lived with their mother and her father Ed.

"Is she alright Daryl?" Andrea had approached the redneck with concern washing over her.  
"Something must of happened at Woodbury and she doesn't want us to know." He sighed thinking about what Clem had done told him. "Something happened to her in Woodbury and I'm gonna find out." Daryl had finished speaking with a quick nod of his head before heading to find his sister.

o0O0o

Daryl saw where his little sister had gone. Towards the barn. He started to jog over to her before she could go inside. Too late. Clem had already climbed into the hayloft before anybody could stop her.

A few seconds later and Daryl had managed to get in after Clementine had. He quickly took out his flash light shining it around until he located Clementine. When he managed to find her, Clem was looking down onto the ground floor in horror.  
"Clem, what's wrong?" He asked her. She pointed down to where she was looking. Daryl shone his light down to get a better view.

He pulled his sister out the barn straight away not saying a word. Walking straight to the group with a shocked looked on both of their faces.

"What's the matter?" The farmer had approached the pair with concern. He was not expecting the response he would get though.  
"Why is the barn full of walkers?!' Daryl screamed letting everyone in the group hear him.


	9. Chapter 9

" I- I don't know what your talking about Daryl." Hershel lied claiming that the barn had pigs and hens inside not rotten corpses.  
"Hershel, I remember Shaun I know that he died, you was upset. But there is no way it's alright to keep your dead family in there." Clementine told the older man the full on truth.

"Hershel you saw what happened to him. He died under that tractor. Shaun died a long time ago. I understand that it's hard to accept it but you need to move on. It's a danger to your family, Maggie, Beth and yourself." Clem was straight on honest with Hershel. This apocalypse had made her braver.

"There not people anymore, Hershel. They are dead. You have to let them rest in peace now. Would Shaun want this, Hershel? It's not fair for them or your family. Beth and Maggie. They need closure. Just put them out of their misery, let them go to heaven. They will never be gone they'll be up in the sky protecting your family the best they can. You just have to set them free." Clementine finished her heart warming speech with hopes that Hershel would let them take out the walkers.

The farmer approached the whole group with the decision that Clem had helped him to make. For a 9 year old, she was incredibly wise with words. 'Here goes nothing.' Hershel thought to himself before he finally spoke. "You can put down the walkers. Clementine spoke to me and convinced me to... Let them rest. She's right, my girls need closure and so do I. Just one thing, I want to be the one to put Shaun down. He was... The first to-" Hershel thought about the right word to describe it without upsetting any of the group, especially the children. Then it came in to his head. "**_CHANGE_**." He sighed before heading towards his house to grab a rifle.

A few moment later and the group had gathered around the barn ready to put down the undead lurking inside.  
It was Daryl who opened the barn doors before joining the rest of the group.

The first out was Shaun. Hershel sighed before shooting the walker that used to be Shaun in the head. _Bang_.  
It continued as the group put down the rest of Hershel's family and friends.

Annette, Billy, Rachel.  
More gun shots went off as the walkers were put out of their misery.  
Susie, Lacey, Arnold.  
The shooting had stopped when the was nothing coming out of the barn.

* * *

Jeff was hidden in the hayloft of the barn. Alive. A few weeks ago he had snuck into the barn searching for somewhere safe to stay. He had survived with the food packets inside his bags.

He decided to leave the barn after hearing the gunshots that killed the dead that were inside the barn.

He climbed down the ladder to the ground floor and made his way towards the doors. He saw the light outside and let his eyes get used to the brightness.

He stepped outside to be met by a bunch of guns pointed at him. Jeff looked around at the group.  
He saw them. Lori, Carl and Rick.

* * *

The group slowly put down their guns as they realised that the figure standing in front of them was human.  
It was Rick who came forward to ask who the person was.  
"Rick?" The man asked when Rick was near him.

"Jeff?" Rick said to his older brother in return.

"Rick who is it?" Rick heard his wife ask in the background. He smiled at his older brother before taking him over to the group.  
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" The sheriff said proudly as he shown Jeff to the group.

Lori and Carl stared for a few seconds before realising that the weren't dreaming. He was alive and they were finally together again.  
"Jeff..." They both said to him in unison before giving him a hug.  
"Is that really you?"

* * *

**An**: Since I had no response on who should come out of the barn I decided it should be Jeff. He won't be a big part seeing as he isn't a major part in The Walking Dead. He will either be bitten soon or he may replace the Shane death scene seeing as him and Lori used to date year ago.


	10. Chapter 10

The Grimes family embraced in a hug for a few moments. A heart warming family reunion. It was a family being united once again.

"How did you get out?" He heard a voice ask the group who had helped him. He thought about how he had left one of their men behind. Merle Dixon. He had been the one who cuffed him to the roof and left him to die. Like a wild animal.

"Why don't you see for yourself." Morales said outside the truck. "Hey helicopter boy, come met everyone" the man had shouted to him.

Rick left the truck first seeing Shane. The man who had been his best friend. His other brother. He smiled and nodded at him before he saw them.  
Rick was speechless with so much relief that he couldn't speak. Just point while he was still trying to figure out whether this was real or he was having a realistic dream in his coma. This was real.

He saw as his son and wife turned to see who the new member of the group was. The way there faces light up with joy was enough to have him crying with happiness.

"DAD!" Carl yelled to him as the young boy ran towards him.

"Rick!" Lori yelled surprised to see her husband standing there. Shane had told her that he was dead.  
Rick and his family were embraced in a hug for a moment before the sheriff ushered his buddy to join in on the happy moment. He had found them even when others said it was impossible.

Seeing Jeff was similar and different to this though. Rick was happy he had found his brother, of course he was. But Rick was worried about Jeff trying anything with Lori. Jeff and Lori used to date before she met Rick at Jeff's party.

Well I think you know where things went with the couple after that. Jeff and Rick's bond faded away, Jeff trying to steal his woman and Rick stopping him. Jeff was jealous and wanted Lori to himself.  
Don't get me wrong Rick loves his brother but what if Jeff turns out to be like Shane.

...

"Rick?" Daryl approached the Grimes family along with Carol and their children. "Who is it?"  
The redneck asked his, well I guess, friend.  
"Daryl this is my brother Jeff."

The Grimes, Dixon and Peletier's walked back to the main group to introduce Jeff to them

"Alright, listen up everyone." The leader addressed the migration that had formed around the Rv. " I would like you to introduce you to a new member of the group." Rick had started but he was cut off before he could continue.  
"Rick we can't just be letting in new people all the time. I mean he was hiding in that barn watching us. He's dangerous." Andrea argued with the decision Rick made. She thought that he was too open with letting anyone into the group. What if he turns out to be a murderer or something.

"Andrea." Rick confronted to blonde woman placing his hand on her shoulder. " He had no other choice, he was trapped in there. He's not dangerous, I promise." Rick told her and went on to tell her who he was. Too late Andrea had already started to question him.

"How would you know Rick?! You only just met him. How can you just say that he's not dangerous! What he turns out to be like Shane?!"

"He's-" Rick was stopped by Jeff who wanted to explain who he was to Andrea. Jeff approached the blonde shaking her hand to greet her.  
"Jeff Grimes." The older brother simply stated hoping she would figure out that him and Rick were related.  
"You mean your his brother. The same Jeff, Lori told us about in the quarry?" The conversation was calmer now that Andrea understood the situation.  
" Yeah. Now Rick, what does she mean by ' turns out to be like Shane.' I thought you guys where best friends?" Jeff asked his little brother confused with what happened.

"Not anymore..."


	11. Chapter 11

A few weeks passed and Jeff fit into the group pretty well, he would flirt with Lori, a lot. That annoyed Rick and Daryl could tell. Something about Jeff didn't quite fit, Daryl thought he was strange and it seemed Clem did too. Daryl was trying to deduct what exactly was so weird about him when Clementine burst into the tent. " I saw Jeff kissing Lori!" She exclaimed. " Lori told him to back off but he wouldn't back off... He's creepy." Not another word was said before Daryl went to find Rick.

Something stopped him in his tracks. Screaming was heard behind the stables. A little girl. _His little girl_. It sounded like Gabby. Daryl ran too the barn as fast as he could but before he turned the corner a shot rang out and Gabby was laying on the cold hard ground. She was no longer breathing, blood everywhere as she turned pale. Daryl thought that maybe she was a walker and Jeff, yes Jeff, was putting her down. That didn't fit a) he would of done it quietly b) he shot her in the chest c) she had the face of the little girl he loved not a face of a corpse. It was murder and someone was going to pay.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO GABBY" Daryl screamed. He was going to say more but he couldn't because Gabby was standing up and stumbling towards Jeff. "Oh thank god you're al-" Daryl was wrong Gabby was no longer an innocent little girl but a flesh eating monster about to make a meal out of Jeff. Daryl couldn't do anything he froze before screaming out for help. All he could do was watch the horrific scene in front of him.

Daryl finally fired a bolt into both of the heads and retrieved them before going to tell Rick that Gabby and Jeff was dead. The farm was overrun by walkers of course it was and everyone was either dead or had already gone somewhere else. He noticed how the barn was engulfed in flames, the blood splattered hip what once was Dales Rv. He then noticed that his motorcycle was still intact and got on ready to hit the road. "Daryl!" He heard Carol shout at him, she was running towards him. "Come on!" He shouted as she claimed onto the bike "I ain't got all day."

They drove through the wood down the road following the marks that were left behind. Zigzag shaped, it had to be Glenn. Daryl drove until he saw the all too familiar highway on it was Glenn, Maggie, Rick, Carl and Hershel. "How did you find us?" Rick asked him. "Saw this guy zigzagging figured he had to be pretty Asian driving like that." Daryl told half truthfully and half sarcastically. "Ha ha very funny." Glenn had replied.

Seconds later the rest of the group arrived. Daryl was glad to see that Ellie and Clementine were alive and safe. "Where's the rest of the group?" Lori asked Rick of course. "We're the only ones who made it. "Gabby?" Carol asked. "Jeff shot her and then she bit him... I put them both down." Daryl answered so coldly that it was obvious that he was grieving. "Patricia?" Hershel asked this time and it was Beth who answered. "They got her too. It was horrible daddy, I was still holding onto her... Jimmy?" She added to the end. "He was in the Rv. It got over run." Rick answered there was one last person who wasn't there. "What about Andrea?" Daryl asked the group. "She saved me then we saw he go down... She may be alive." Carol answered him back half hoping that she was.

Daryl was about to go get her back to the group. Rick stopped him. "Where you going?!" Rick shouted. "To get one of our best shots back!" Daryl shouted back. Rick didn't seem to like that idea. Daryl watched as Rick stormed back to the group. "LISTEN HERE PEOPLE! I AM DONE WITH MAKING THE HARD DECISIONS JUST TOO BE IGNORED! IF YOU DON'T LIKE HOW I RUN THINGS THEN YOU BETTER HIT THE ROAD!" Rick paused to see if there were anyone actually leaving. "NO TAKERS? LETS GET THINGS STRAIGHT. THIS ISN'T A DEMOCRACY ANYMORE." Rick finished his rant leaving the group in an awkward silence.

Daryl decided to take watch on the highest wall of the shelter they had travelled too. He couldn't believe what was in front of him. The building was well secured and would be perfect for the groups next 'Safe Heaven'. In front of Daryl lay a prison guarded by too wire fences perfect for keeping walkers and human threats away. For now it seemed that he had _found hope_ after all.

**The End**


	12. Authors Note - Guest Review

**An: "****One of the most awful stories. It's like the basic plot of a story. No  
thought, or details no emotion. It's truly awful. Youneed to work out how to actually write before you darken the fantom with this kinda shit again.  
Seriously.****"**

**Okay let's see, I DID not write this story to please you and if you don't like it then it's not my problem. This is the first story i have EVER written so I am still improving. I'm only fourteen and my schools has never taught me how to write a story so this is me trying. I'd like to see you try... Here's an idea? Trying logging in instead of hiding behind 'Guest' review again and i'll see how well you can write a story for the FIRST TIME! **

**_One of the most awful stories. It's like the basic plot of a story. No_****  
****_thought, or details _****_and_****_ no emotion. It's truly awful. _****_You need_****_ to work out how to actually write before you darken the _****_fandom_****_ with this _****_kind of _****_shit again._****  
****_Seriously._**

**There I fixed your review to 'actually' make more sense. **


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